USS Wichita (CA-45) was a unique heavy cruiser of the United States Navy built in the 1930s. The last American cruiser designed to meet the limits of London Naval Treaty, she was originally intended to be a New Orleans-class heavy cruiser, accordingly with the maximum main armament of three triple 8-inch (203 mm) gun turrets. These were instead placed on an improved hull derived from the Brooklyn-class light cruisers, with increased armoring. This design would go on to form the basis for the later World War II-era heavy cruisers such as the Baltimore-class cruisers. The ship was authorized by the 1929 Cruiser Act, laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1935, launched in November 1937, and commissioned into the US Navy in February 1939.

Following her commissioning, Wichita was assigned to neutrality patrols in the Atlantic. After the United States entered World War II, the ship saw heavy service throughout the conflict. She was first assigned to convoy escort duty on the Murmansk Run in early 1942, and supported amphibious landings during Operation Torch in November 1942. During the Naval Battle of Casablanca, Wichita engaged several French coastal batteries and warships, including the battleship Jean Bart. In 1943, Wichita was transferred to the Pacific Theater, where she remained for the rest of the war. She frequently provided antiaircraft defense for the Fast Carrier Task Force during operations in the central Pacific, including the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf in 1944. During the latter engagement, Wichita assisted in the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda.

Wichita was heavily engaged during the invasion of Okinawa, where she provided heavy gunfire support to ground troops ashore. After the Japanese surrender, the ship served as part of the occupation force in Japan and assisted in the repatriation of American military personnel under Operation Magic Carpet. After returning to the United States, she was decommissioned and placed in the mothball fleet in 1946. She remained in reserve until 1959, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrapping in August 1959.

In the early 1930s, the Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur, pushed for a new construction program for light and heavy cruisers.[1] Wilbur succeeded in passing the Cruiser Act in 1929, which authorized several new cruisers.[2] Five heavy cruisers, the last of which was Wichita, were ordered between 1931 and 1934.[1]Wichita was the last heavy cruiser permitted under the terms of the London Naval Treaty in 1930, which limited the US to 18 heavy cruisers with a maximum standard displacement of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t).[3] The ship was originally intended to be built to the design of the New Orleans class, but the design was reworked before construction began.[4] Instead, the design for Wichita was based on the Brooklyn class of light cruisers. The Brooklyn design was modified heavily, to give the new ship higher freeboard and better stability, and an increased cruising radius. The secondary battery of eight 5-inch (127 mm) guns was identical in number to the light cruisers, but was arranged to give better fields of fire. The main battery of nine 8-inch (200 mm) guns was mounted in a new gun turret design that rectified problems discovered in earlier cruisers.[3]

Wichita was laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 28 October 1935, and launched on 16 November 1937. By the time she was completed, in February 1938, Wichita was nearly over the 10,000-ton limit; as a result, she was completed with only two of the eight 5-inch guns to keep her under the displacement restriction. When the rest of the 5-inch guns were installed, it was found that the ship was too top-heavy, and so 200.4 long tons (203.6 t) of pig iron had to be added to her bottom to balance the cruiser. Wichita was commissioned into the US Navy on 16 February 1939.[3] Her first commander was Captain Thaddeus A. Thomson.[5]

Wichita was 600 feet (182.9 m) long at the waterline and 608 ft 4 in (185.42 m) long overall. She had a beam of 61 ft 9 in (18.82 m) and a draft of 23 ft 9 in (7.24 m). She displaced 10,589 long tons (10,759 t) at standard displacement and 13,015 long tons (13,224 t) at full combat load. The ship had a crew of 929 officers and enlisted men. She was equipped with four seaplanes and a pair of aircraft catapults and a crane for handling the aircraft which were mounted on the stern. Wichita was powered by four Parsonssteam turbines and eight Babcock & Wilcox oil-fired water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated at 100,000 shaft horsepower (75,000 kW) and a top speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). She carried 1,323 to 1,984 long tons (1,344 to 2,016 t) of fuel oil, which gave her a maximum cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3]

The hull was protected by a waterline armored belt composed of Class A armor that was 6.4 in (160 mm) thick amidships. It was reduced to 4 in (100 mm) thick on either end. The belt was backed with .63 in (16 mm) of special treatment steel. The Class A steel was significantly more effective than the Class B armor used in earlier cruisers; 8-inch guns had to be within 10,000 yards (9,100 m) to penetrate the belt, as opposed to 16,400 yd (15,000 m) for the earlier armor. Wichita had a 2.25 in (57 mm) thick deck, which was immune to 8-inch fire inside 22,000 yd (20,000 m). The conning tower had 6 in (152 mm) thick sides and a 2.25 in thick roof. The ship's main battery turrets had 8 in (203 mm) thick faces, 3.75 in (95 mm) thick sides, 1.5 in (38 mm) thick rears, and 2.75 in (70 mm) thick roofs. The turrets were mounted on armored barbettes protected with 7 in (180 mm) of armor plating.[3]

Wichita was armed with a main battery of nine 8-inch /55 Mark 12 guns mounted in three 3-gun turrets. The guns fired a 335-pound (152 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,500 feet per second (760 m/s). Maximum elevation of the guns was 41 degrees; this provided a maximum range of 30,050 yd (27,480 m). Rate of fire was approximately one shot every fifteen seconds.[6] The turrets allowed each gun to elevate and fire individually.[7] Her secondary battery consisted of eight 5-inch /38 Mark 12dual-purpose guns, four in single, enclosed Mark 30 high-angle mounts, and four in open mounts. These guns fired 55 lb (25 kg) projectiles at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. Muzzle velocity was 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s); against aerial targets, the guns had a ceiling of 37,200 ft (11,300 m) at 85 degrees. At 45 degrees, the guns could engage surface targets at a range of 18,200 yd (16,600 m).[8]Wichita was the first cruiser in the US Navy to be equipped with the new 5-inch /38 gun.[4]

By August 1945, the ship had been equipped with numerous smaller guns for close-range anti-aircraft defense. Sixteen Bofors 40 mm guns were placed in quadruple mounts, and another eight were in dual mounts. She also carried eighteen Oerlikon 20 mm guns in single mountings.[3] The 40 mm guns had a ceiling of 22,800 ft (6,900 m) at 90 degrees elevation and a maximum rate of fire of 160 rounds per minute.[9] The 20 mm gun had a rate of fire of 465–480 rounds per minute; they had a ceiling of 10,000 ft (3,000 m).[10] By the end of the war, the ship was armed with a variety of fire control systems for her guns, including Mark 34 fire control gear and Mark 13 and Mark 28 fire control radars.[7]

Wichita departed Philadelphia after her commissioning, bound for Houston, Texas. She arrived on 20 April 1939 and took part in the dedicatory and memorial service at the San Jacinto Battle Monument and War Relic Museum. The ship left Houston on 1 May for her shakedown cruise, during which she visited the Virgin Islands, Cuba, and the Bahamas before she returned to Philadelphia for post-shakedown repairs. On 25 September, a few weeks after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Wichita was assigned to Cruiser Division 7 in the Atlantic Squadron, based in the Hampton Roads. She conducted her first neutrality patrol on 4–9 October. After returning to port, she went into dock at the Norfolk Navy Yard for maintenance, which lasted until 1 December. On 4 December, Wichita steamed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arriving on the 8th. There, Thomson assumed command of the newly formed Caribbean Patrol, which included Wichita and the cruiser Vincennes, and the destroyers Borie, Broome, Lawrence, King, and Truxtun, and Navy patrol squadrons VP-33 and VP-51. Over the course of the next three months, the force conducted a series of training maneuvers in the Caribbean. At the end of February, Wichita returned to Norfolk via Philadelphia, where she participated in further training through May.[5]

Starting in June, Wichita and Quincy conducted a goodwill cruise to South America; Wichita carried Rear Admiral Andrew C. Pickens, the commander of Cruiser Division 7. Included in the ports of call were Rio de Janeiro and Santos in Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay. The cruise ended in late September; the two cruisers arrived in Norfolk on the 24th.[11] Over the next three months, Wichita served as a training ship for Naval Reserve midshipmen and conducted gunnery practices off the Virginia capes. On 7 January 1941, Wichita departed Hampton Roads for Guantanamo, arriving four days later. She participated in fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean through March and took part in practice amphibious landings at Puerto Rico. She returned to the United States, docking at the New York Navy Yard, on 23 March. Wichita went to sea again on 6 April, bound for Bermuda; she reached her destination two days later. She then joined the aircraft carrierRanger and the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa for a patrol in the North Atlantic, during which the ships sailed to within 800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi) of Ireland.[5][12]

Wichita then returned to the New York Navy Yard on 17 May and went into drydock on 21 June. Repairs were completed on 2 July, after which Wichita was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island. She sortied again on 27 July bound for Iceland as part of Task Force 16 under Operation Indigo II, the occupation of Iceland.[5]Wichita arrived in Reykjavík on 6 August, along with the carrier Wasp and the battleshipMississippi. The task force landed a contingent of US Army troops and fighter aircraft to provide air support.[13][14] The cruiser returned to the United States by 20 August. Wichita returned to Iceland in September, arriving in Reykjavík on 28 September. Two days prior to Wichita's arrival, the US Navy ordered the units of the Atlantic Fleet to protect all ships engaged in commerce in United States defensive waters. The orders authorized the Navy to patrol, escort merchantmen, and attack any German or Italian naval forces encountered. Wichita was assigned to Task Group 7.5, which was engaged in patrolling Icelandic waters through the end 1941. On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II; on the day of the attack, Wichita lay at anchor at Hvalfjörður, Iceland.[5]

Wichita left port on 5 January 1942 for training and a patrol in the Denmark Strait; she returned to Hvalfjörður on 10 January.[5] On the 15th, a powerful storm, with sustained winds of 80 knots (150 km/h; 92 mph) and gusts up to 100 kn (190 km/h; 120 mph), hit Iceland. Wichita was damaged by the storm, including a collision with the freighter West Nohno and the British trawlerEbor Wyke. She then ran aground off Hrafneyri Light.[15] The following day, the ship's crew evaluated her condition; she had suffered minor damage from the collisions, including some leaks, and damage to the hull from the grounding. Temporary repairs were effected in Iceland to allow Wichita to return to the New York Navy Yard for more thorough repairs. She arrived on 9 February, and repairs lasted until 26 February, when she left port for training maneuvers off Maine in early March.[5]

On 26 March, Wichita, assigned to Task Force 39, departed the United States to reinforce the British Home Fleet based in Scapa Flow. Task Force 39, commanded by Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., included Wasp, the battleship Washington, the cruiser Tuscaloosa, and eight destroyers. While en route, Wilcox was swept overboard in a heavy sea and lost. Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, who flew his flag in Wichita, took command of the task force.[16] After arriving in Scapa Flow, Wichita and the other American ships spent several weeks training with their British counterparts.[5] On 28 April, Wichita departed on her first major operation with the British. She was assigned to the Allied escort for the Arctic convoysQP 11 and PQ 15. The American component, organized as Task Force 99, comprised Washington, Wichita, Tuscaloosa, and four destroyers. The British assigned the carrier Victorious, the battleship King George V, a light cruiser, and five destroyers.[17][18] After successfully escorting the convoys, Wichita returned to Hvalfjörður, arriving on 6 May.[5]

USS Wichita and USS Wasp in Scapa Flow in 1942.

Wichita sortied on 12 May to relieve Tuscaloosa, which was patrolling the Denmark Strait. Wichita returned to Hvalfjörður a week later, before putting to sea as part of another Allied convoy escort protecting one leg of the movement of Murmansk-bound convoy PQ 16 and eastbound QP 12. She put into Scapa Flow on 29 May after completing the mission. While in Scapa Flow, King George VI inspected Wichita on 7 June. Wichita left Scapa Flow on 12 June, bound for Hvalfjörður, and arrived 14 June. She then relieved the British cruiser Cumberland on patrol in the Denmark Strait. While on patrol on 17 June, Wichita spotted a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 reconnaissance bomber and opened fire, though without result. Three days later, she engaged another Fw 200, again without success.[5]

After returning to Hvalfjörður, Wichita steamed to Seidisfjord at the end of June, where she joined Tuscaloosa and three destroyers. They were assigned to the escort for the convoy PQ 17.[19] The convoy escort also included Washington, Victorious, and the battleship Duke of York. The Germans organized a powerful task force, centered on the battleship Tirpitz and three heavy cruisers, to attack the convoy; the operation was codenamed Rösselsprung (Knight's Move). Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U-boats and the Luftwaffe. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports.[20] The next day, while south of Spitzbergen, the ships were spotted and shadowed by a pair of Fw 200s. Both Wichita and Tuscaloosa opened fire with their antiaircraft guns, but the Fw 200s escaped without damage.[5]

In late July, Wichita went into drydock at the Royal Navy base in Rosyth, Scotland. Repairs, which included correcting a propeller shaft vibration, lasted from 24 July until 9 August. The repairs to the propeller shaft were ineffective, however, which necessitated a return to the United States. She reached the New York Navy Yard on 22 August for repairs, which lasted until 5 September. She completed a round of post-repair sea trials before conducting gunnery exercises in the Chesapeake Bay. Wichita conducted training off the Virginia Capes for the rest of the month, after which she steamed to Casco Bay in Maine for further maneuvers.[5]

At the end of October, Wichita was assigned to Task Group 34.1, under the command of Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, who flew his flag in Augusta.[5] The Task Group also included the battleship Massachusetts and Tuscaloosa.[21] The ships were assigned to provide gunfire support for Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. Wichita participated in the Naval Battle of Casablanca, which began early on the morning of 8 November. The ships were tasked with neutralizing the primary French defenses, which included coastal guns on El Hank, several submarines, and the incomplete battleship Jean Bart which lay at anchor in the harbor. Wichita and Tuscaloosa initially engaged the French batteries on El Hank and the French submarine pens, while Massachusetts attacked Jean Bart. French naval forces, led by the cruiser Primauguet, put up a stubborn defense.[22][23]

In response, the French launched a pair of attacks to break up the American landings. During the first French attack, either Wichita or Tuscaloosa damaged the French destroyer Milan and forced it aground. A second French attack was also defeated; one of the two cruisers sank the destroyer Fougueux and damaged Frondeur. Wichita, Tuscaloosa, and Massachusetts also engaged Jean Bart.[22][24] At 11:28, Wichita was hit by a 194 mm (7.6 in) shell, fired by a gun on El Hank. The shell penetrated her deck and exploded below, injuring fourteen men. Hewitt broke off the attack temporarily, but by 13:12, several American warships began firing on French vessels exiting the harbor. Wichita and Tuscaloosa closed on the port to engage the cruisers Primauguet and Gloire, still in the harbor. Heavy fire from El Hank forced the American cruisers to retreat shortly after 15:00.[25] For the remainder of the operations off North Africa, Wichita patrolled between Casablanca and Fedhala. Her part in the amphibious assault complete, Wichita departed the area on 12 November, bound for New York for repairs; she arrived on 19 November.[5]

Shortly after repairs were completed, Wichita was transferred to the Pacific theater.[5] She was assigned to Task Force 18, commanded by Rear Admiral Giffen, and tasked with operations off Guadalcanal. She was joined by the heavy cruisers Louisville and Chicago, the light cruisersMontpelier, Cleveland, and Columbia. In addition, the escort carriersChenango and Suwannee, and eight destroyers were present in the task group.[26] On the night of 29 January 1943, the Task Force was steaming off Rennell Island; wary of the threat from Japanese submarines, which Allied intelligence indicated were likely in the area, Giffen arranged his cruisers and destroyers for anti-submarine defense, not expecting an air attack. The cruisers were aligned in two columns, spaced 2,500 yd (2,300 m) apart. Wichita, Chicago, and Louisville, in that order, were to starboard, and Montpelier, Cleveland, and Columbia were to port. The six destroyers were in a semicircle 2 mi (1.7 nmi; 3.2 km) ahead of the cruiser columns.[27] That evening, the ships came under attack from Japanese torpedo bombers. In the ensuing Battle of Rennell Island, Chicago was hit by several torpedoes and sunk; Wichita was hit by one torpedo, though it failed to explode.[28]

Wichita then steamed to Efate in the New Hebrides for a training period. She then departed on 7 April, bound for Pearl Harbor and arriving there a week later. On 18 April, she steamed out of Pearl Harbor for Adak, Alaska, again flying Giffen's flag, for Task Group 52.10.[5] In early May, Wichita was assigned to the amphibious force tasked with liberating the Aleutian Islands from Japanese control. She served as the flagship of the northern covering force, along with the cruisers Louisville and San Francisco and four destroyers.[29] On 6 July, Wichita, three other cruisers, and four destroyers bombarded Japanese positions on the island of Kiska.[30] The bombardment convinced the Japanese that the Americans intended to invade the island in the near future; they therefore planned an evacuation by July.[31]

On 19 July, a powerful American fleet, including the battleships New Mexico, Idaho, and Mississippi joined Wichita to conduct another attack on Kiska three days later.[32] Five days later, malfunctioning radar equipment led to a battle with radar phantoms (the "Battle of the Pips"); Wichita, two battleships, and two other cruisers expended over a thousand rounds of ammunition from their main batteries on the empty sea. That same day, the Japanese successfully evacuated the island, which was invaded by American troops two weeks later.[30] The morning after the assumed engagement, Wichita launched a seaplane to reconnoiter the area, but found no evidence of Japanese forces.[33]

On the night of 16 February, Japanese aircraft launched an attack on the Task Group and torpedoed the carrier Intrepid. Task Unit 58.2.4, which included Wichita, was detached to escort Intrepid back to safety and repairs. The ships reached Majuro on 20 February, and departed for Hawaii eight days later. The ships arrived in port on 4 March, and on the 9th, Wichita became the flagship of Cruiser Division 6. On 15 March, Cruiser Division 6 departed Hawaii to return to Majuro, arriving on 20 March. After arriving, she joined the screen for the Fast Carrier Task Force, which struck Japanese bases on Yap, Woleali, and in the Palaus. Wichita supported strikes on Hollandia in New Guinea on 13–22 April. The task force returned to the seas off Truk on 29 April for a second round of airstrikes on the port. While the carriers were striking Truk, Wichita and several cruisers and destroyers shelled Japanese targets on Satawan Island in the Nomol group of the Caroline Islands.[5]

Wichita underway in the Pacific, in May 1944

On 4 May, Wichita returned to Majuro for a month of training. In June, she returned to the fleet, which was gathering at Kwajalein in preparations for operations against the Mariana Islands. Wichita was assigned to Task Unit 53.10.8, which shelled Saipan on 13 June. The next day, Wichita bombarded Japanese gun positions on Guam, before returning to Saipan later that day. On 17 June, she joined Task Group 58.7; the force patrolled to the west of the Marianas over the next three days in an attempt to intercept the large Japanese carrier force known to be approaching. On 19 June, the Japanese carriers struck at the American fleet, starting the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Wichita contributed to the antiaircraft screen; her gunners claimed to have assisted in the destruction of two Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers. The ship was detached to cover troop transports and escort carriers off Saipan on 25 June. This duty lasted through the first week of July. Now part of Task Unit 53.18.1, Wichita bombarded Japanese positions on Guam on 8–12 July, and again starting on 18 July.[5][35]

Wichita departed Guam on 10 August, bound for Eniwetok. She arrived three days later and remained there until 29 July, when she put to sea to join Task Group 38.1. She screened for the fast carrier task group while they launched airstrikes on Japanese targets in Palau, the Carolines, the Philippines, and Dutch East Indies.[5] On 28 August, TG 38.1 raided targets in Palau and Morotai.[36] By mid-September, TG 38.1 provided air support for the assault on Morotai; the operation lasted until 21 September. The following day, the carriers launched an airstrike on Manila in the Philippines. Early on 22 September, Japanese aircraft launched a counterattack. At 07:34, Wichita shot down a bomber approximately 50 yards from her. She shot down another bomber at 07:45. She continued to provide antiaircraft defense for the carriers while they struck Japanese installations on Cebu, Negros, and Coron.[5]

Wichita got underway to support a raid on Okinawa on 2 October. On 10 October, the fleet reached the waters off Okinawa and launched the strike. The following day, the fleet struck Aparri on Luzon. The fleet then raided Formosa, where they targeted Japanese airfields to prepare for the upcoming assault against the Philippines.[5] On 13 October, Japanese bombers attacked the fleet and badly damaged the cruiser Canberra. Wichita took Canberra under tow, though she was relieved by the ocean-going tug Munsee on 15 October.[37]Wichita joined the screen for Canberra; the squadron was joined by the badly damaged cruiser Houston. The ships were attacked again the following day, and Houston was torpedoed again. Wichita left the damaged ships on 21 October, after they had successfully reached safer waters. Wichita then rejoined the fleet off Luzon, assigned to Task Force 34 under Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee.[5]

Wichita was present during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which started on 23 October. On 25 October, the Fast Carrier Strike Force had steamed north, to attack the Northern Force commanded by Jisaburō Ozawa. Wichita again screened for the carriers, which sank or damaged several Japanese carriers. Task Force 34 was detached to finish off several of the crippled Japanese ships with gunfire; Wichita and three other cruisers sank the light carrier Chiyoda and the destroyer Hatsuzuki.[38][39]Wichita expended twenty-two percent of her armor-piercing rounds at the two ships, which amounted to 148 rounds at Chiyoda and 173 against Hatsuzuki.[40] In the aftermath of the battle, Wichita returned to screening for the carriers off Samar. On 28 October, she provided gunfire support to troops ashore on Leyte. Two days later, she defended against a Japanese airstrike on the fleet.[5]

On 31 October, Wichita left the area, bound for Ulithi, reaching her destination on 2 November. After replenishing her ammunition and stores, she returned to Leyte for several days, until the middle of November. Her crew detected severe vibrations in her No. 4 engine; the propeller shaft had broken and the propeller was trailing. She was therefore detached on 18 November for repairs in California, via Ulithi. While in Ulithi, divers discovered cracks in a strut for No. 3 propeller shaft; now only two screws were operational. She reached San Pedro in California on 15 December. She entered the Terminal Island Navy Yard shortly after reaching port. Repairs lasted until 8 February 1945, and by 28 February, she departed for Pearl Harbor. Wichita arrived in Hawaii on 6 March, before departing five days later for Ulithi.[5]

Wichita arrived in Ulithi on 20 March, and was assigned to Task Force 54 the next day. She put to sea to take part in the invasion of Okinawa. The ship was placed in Task Unit 54.2.3 to cover minesweepers off Okinawa on 25 March. On the afternoon of the following day, Wichita bombarded Japanese positions on the island, from 13:50 to 16:30. Japanese aircraft attacked the ships early the next morning; Wichita's gunners shot down one of the aircraft. Later that day, the ship resumed bombardment duties in preparation for the amphibious invasion. She continued to shell the island through 28 March. The next day, she retired to Kerama Retto to replenish her ammunition. The ship then returned to Okinawa later that day to cover underwater demolition teams as they cleared beach obstacles. Wichita continued to support the demolition teams the next day, as well as shelling targets ashore. On 31 March, Wichita bombarded the sea wall to create a breach in preparation for the landings.[5]

Wichita firing a broadside

The invasion began on 1 April, and Wichita provided gunfire support to the landing troops on the southern beaches. At around 12:00, she left the firing line to replenish her ammunition. She resumed bombardment the following day and resupplied again on 3 April before covering minesweepers on 4 April. During the night of 4–5 April, Wichita shelled the Japanese defenders on Okinawa. The ship was assigned to join Task Group 51.19 the next day to bombard Tsugen Shima in company with Tuscaloosa and the battleships Maryland and Arkansas. Japanese aircraft appeared, which forced the cancellation of the mission. Nevertheless, Wichita shelled Japanese shore batteries at Chiyama Shima that evening.[5]

Late on 6 April, an A6M Zero attempted to attack Wichita. The fighter came down through a break in the clouds on Wichita's port side. The ship's anti-aircraft gunners immediately opened fire; a burst from one of the 20 mm guns shot away the Zero's tail. The plane veered away, out of control, and dropped its 500-pound (230 kg) bomb, which fell approximately 50 feet (15 m) from the ship. The Zero's wing clipped the deck before the plane crashed into the sea. Eleven men were wounded in the attack, though the ship remained undamaged.[41] The following day, Wichita steamed into Nakagusuku Bay to shell a coastal battery. Shells from the Japanese guns landed close to the ship, but no hits were scored before Wichita neutralized the battery. Over the next two days, the ship continued to bombard Japanese defenses on the island, until she retired to replenish ammunition on 10 April.[5]

Wichita continued to provide gunfire support throughout the rest of the month. On 27 April, a small caliber shell penetrated a fuel oil tank five feet below the waterline. After temporary repairs while still off Okinawa proved unsuccessful, Wichita returned to Kerama Retto where the damage was repaired on 29–30 April. Wichita then returned to the gun line.[5] On 12 May, the ship was damaged by friendly fire.[42] A 5-inch round struck the port aircraft catapult; shell fragments hit the shield of an antiaircraft director, killing one man and injuring eleven others. She departed the area to rest and refit at Leyte, returning to Okinawa on 18 June.[5]Wichita continued to provide gunfire support to the troops on Okinawa through July, as part of Task Unit 2.[43] On 15 August, the ship's crew received word that the war with Japan was over. Wichita was awarded 13 battle stars for her service during World War II.[5]

Wichita was assigned to the occupying force shortly after the end of the war. She departed Okinawa on 10 September for Nagasaki, arriving the following day as part of Task Group 55.7.[5]Wichita was one of the first major warships to reach Japan; she was escorted by a destroyer, a pair of destroyer escorts, two minesweepers, and the hospital shipHaven.[44]Wichita was transferred to Sasebo on 25 September for four days before she returned to Nagasaki on 29 September. She returned to Sasebo shortly thereafter, and while she was there, a severe typhoon struck the area on 9–11 October. Wichita was not damaged during the storms. While at Sasebo, Wichita's crew inspected the Japanese ships and harbor installations to ensure Japanese compliance with the terms of surrender.[5]

On 5 November, Wichita was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, the repatriation of American military personnel. She refueled in Tokyo before departing for San Francisco. The ship reached San Francisco on 24 November, where she went into drydock at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard two days later. Repairs and modifications for further Magic Carpet duty were completed by 1 December. Wichita departed for Hawaii on 6 December, reaching Pearl Harbor on 12 December before proceeding to the Marianas. There, the ship loaded servicemen from Saipan and steamed back to San Francisco, arriving on 12 January 1946. She left port on 27 January bound for the east coast of the United States; she transited the Panama Canal on 5–9 February and reached Philadelphia on 14 February. There, she was assigned to the Sixteenth Fleet and was placed in reserve on 15 July. Wichita was decommissioned on 3 February 1947 and laid up at Philadelphia.[5] In the late 1940s, the Navy considered converting Wichita into a guided-missile cruiser, but Boston and Canberra were chosen instead.[4] On 1 March 1959, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold on 14 August to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp.[5]

1.
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
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The Navy Yard, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Naval Business Center, was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. It is now an industrial park that includes a commercial shipyard. Philadelphias original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street, the new, much larger yard grew up around facilities begun in 1871 on League Island at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The United States Navy ended most of its activities there in the 1990s, and in 2000, the Navy still has a Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility and a few engineering activities at the site. The yard has its origins in a shipyard on Philadelphias Front Street on the Delaware River that was founded in 1776, from 1812 till 1865 it was a big production center. The first ship which was launched to the water was vessel Franklin and this event was watched by more than 50,000 spectators. The rapid development of shipbuilding companies pledged Philadelphia to improve production processes. It was the first shipyard in the world which used floating dry docks in the process to improve an operating time of the ships. After the advent of ironclad warships made the site obsolete, new facilities were built in 1871 on League Island at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. After first making a request to the Secretary of the Navy via shipyard Commandant Commodore James Barron, on August 29,1835 they appealed directly to President Andrew Jackson, there is no probability they will secede from their demands. Rodegier, David R. and Foner, Sheldon Our Own Time, A History of American Labor, Naval Aircraft Factory was established at the League Island site in 1917. Just after World War I, a 350-ton capacity hammerhead crane was ordered for the yard, manufactured in 1919 by the McMyler-Interstate Company in Bedford, Ohio, the crane was called the League Island Crane by its builder. Weighing 3,500 tons, the crane was shipped to the yard in sections, the League Island Crane was for many years the Navys largest crane. Mustin Field opened at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926 and operated until 1963, the shipyards greatest period came in World War II, when the yard employed 40,000 people who built 53 ships and repaired 574. During this period, the built the famed battleship New Jersey and its 45, 000-ton sister ship. In the Naval Laboratory Philip Abelson developed the thermal diffusion technique for separating U-235 for the Manhattan Project. After the war, the workforce dropped to 12,000, the yard built its last new ship, the command ship Blue Ridge, in 1970. The yards closure was originally recommended in 1991 by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, as a result of foreign competition, the planned closing was unsuccessfully litigated to the US Supreme Court in Dalton v. Specter

2.
Baltimore-class cruiser
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The Baltimore-class cruiser was a large class of heavy cruisers in the United States Navy commissioned during or shortly after World War II. Fourteen Baltimores were completed, more than any class of heavy cruiser. Fast and heavily armed, the Baltimore cruisers were used in World War II to protect the fast aircraft carriers in battle groups from air attack. Additionally, their 8-inch main guns and secondary 5-inch guns were used to bombard land targets in support of amphibious landings. After the war, only six Baltimores and two Oregon City-class ships remained in service, while the rest were moved to the reserve fleet, however, all ships except Boston, Canberra, Chicago and Fall River were reactivated for the Korean War. Except for St Paul, all the ships retaining all-gun configurations had very short lives, and by 1971 were decommissioned. However, four Baltimore-class cruisers were refitted and converted some of the first guided missile cruisers in the world. The last of these was decommissioned in 1980, with the Chicago lasting until 1991 in reserve, no example of the Baltimore class still exists. With the start of the war, the limitations instituted by the Second London Naval Treaty, the Baltimore class was based partly on USS Wichita, a heavy cruiser from 1937, which represented the transition from inter-war to World War II designs. It was also based partly on the Cleveland class, a cruiser that was then being built. The construction of the first four ships of the Baltimore class began on July 1,1940, a second order, which consisted of 16 more ships, was approved on August 7,1942. With the construction of the first eight Baltimore-class ships moving slowly, the new, modified design was itself delayed, so that construction had begun on a further six ships—for a total of 14—using the original design before the revisions were completed. The final three ships ordered were converted to the design, known as the Oregon City class. Between 1943 and 1947,17 ships of the Baltimore and Oregon City classes entered service, construction of the eighteenth ship was suspended, to eventually be completed as a flagship/command ship in 1950. Five more were laid down, but cancelled and scrapped before launch, the largest contractor for the construction of the Baltimore-class ships was Bethlehem Steel, which produced eight ships at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey, built four, the ships were named after cities in the United States, the only exception being USS Canberra, which was named in honor of HMAS Canberra, which had been named after Canberra, the Australian capital. The classification CA originally stood for armored cruiser but was used for heavy cruisers. By 1947, nine of the Baltimores had been decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet, however, at the start of the 1950s, six were reactivated, making thirteen available for deployment in the Korean War

3.
Wichita, Kansas
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Wichita is the largest city in the state of Kansas and the 48th-largest city in the United States. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County, as of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 382,368, as of 2014, it was estimated to have increased to 389,965. In 2015, the population of the Wichita metropolitan area was 644,610. The city began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and it subsequently became a key destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to access railroads, earning it the nickname Cowtown. In the 1920s and 1930s, businessmen and aeronautical engineers established a number of aircraft manufacturing companies in Wichita including Beechcraft, Cessna. The city transformed into a hub of U. S. aircraft production, in 1937, the city of Wichita established their official flag. As an industrial hub and the largest city in the state, Wichita is a center of culture, media. It hosts several museums, theatres, parks, and entertainment venues. Several universities are located in the city including Wichita State University, the citys daily newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, has the highest circulation of any newspaper in Kansas, and the Wichita broadcast television market includes the western two-thirds of the state. Wichita is also home to the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center and Kansass largest airport, archaeological evidence indicates human habitation near the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers, the site of present-day Wichita, as early as 3000 B. C. In 1541, a Spanish expedition led by explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado found the area populated by the Quivira, or Wichita, conflict with the Osage in the 1750s drove the Wichita further south. Prior to American settlement of the region, the site was located in the territory of the Kiowa, the Wichita returned in 1864 due to the American Civil War and established a settlement on the banks of the Little Arkansas. During this period, trader Jesse Chisholm established a trading post at the site, after the war, the Wichita permanently relocated south to Indian Territory. In 1868, trader James R. Mead established another trading post at the site, and surveyor Darius Munger built a house for use as a hotel, community center, Business opportunities attracted area hunters and traders, and a new settlement began to form. That summer, Mead and others organized the Wichita Town Company, in 1870, Munger and German immigrant William Dutch Bill Greiffenstein filed plats laying out the citys first streets. Wichita formally incorporated as a city on July 21,1870, Wichitas position on the Chisholm Trail made it a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to access railroads which led to markets in eastern U. S. cities. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached the city in 1872, as a result, Wichita became a railhead for the cattle drives, earning it the nickname Cowtown. Across the Arkansas River, the town of Delano became an entertainment destination for cattlemen thanks to its saloons, brothels

4.
Heavy cruiser
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The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203mm calibre and displacing approximately 10,000 tons. The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, the heavy cruisers immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than the armoured cruisers of before 1905. With their intended targets being other cruisers and smaller vessels, the role of the heavy cruiser differed fundamentally from that of the armored cruiser, also, the heavy cruiser was designed to take advantage of advances in naval technology and design. They often had a number of main guns than did armoured cruisers. This arrangement saved tonnage and enabled the ship to all guns on one broadside. They also benefited from the introduction of control in the 1920s and 1930s. These developments meant that the cruiser was an overall more powerful ship type than the armoured cruiser had been. At the end of the 19th century, cruisers were classified as first and their essential role had not changed since the age of sail—to serve on long-range missions, patrol for enemy warships and raid and defend commerce. Armoured cruisers had proved less versatile than needed to do this adequately, in a race to outsize and outgun one another, they had grown to around 15,000 tons and up to 9. While Japanese armored cruisers had distinguished themselves at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, tactics and technology were gearing towards naval encounters held over increasingly longer ranges, which demanded an armament of primarily large caliber guns. The demand for speed with which to outflank a potential enemy, thirty percent was the ratio by which frigates had been faster than ships of the line in the days of sail. If a battleship sailed at 20 knots, this would mean that an armored cruiser would have to steam at least 26 or 27 knots, armoured cruisers could not fulfill these criteria without being built much larger and taking on a different form than they had in the past. HMS Invincible and her two sister ships were designed specifically to fulfill these requirements, however, they were much larger, faster and better-armed than armored cruisers, able to outpace them, stay out of range of their weapons and destroy them with relative impunity. All these factors made battlecruisers attractive fighting units, although Britain, Germany and they also meant that the armored cruiser as it had been known was now outmoded. No more were built after 1910 and by the end of World War I, although Lord Fisher, the man behind the building of Invincible, had hoped to replace practically all forms of cruisers with battlecruisers, they proved to be too costly to build in large numbers. At the same time, the third class cruiser started to carry thin steel armour on the outside of its hull, the first such design was the British Atlantic cruiser proposal of 1912, which proposed a long-range cruiser of about 8,000 tons displacement with 190 mm guns. This was a response to a rumour that Germany was building cruisers to attack merchant shipping in the Atlantic with 170mm guns, the German raiders proved to be fictional and the Atlantic cruisers were never built. However, in 1915 the requirement for long-range trade-protection cruisers resurfaced and resulted in the Hawkins class, essentially enlarged light cruisers, the Hawkins-class each carried seven 190 mm guns, and had a displacement just under 10,000 tons

5.
Boiler
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A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil, the heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation. The pressure vessel of a boiler is usually made of steel, stainless steel, especially of the austenitic types, is not used in wetted parts of boilers due to corrosion and stress corrosion cracking. In live steam models, copper or brass is used because it is more easily fabricated in smaller size boilers. For much of the Victorian age of steam, the material used for boilermaking was the highest grade of wrought iron. In the 20th century, design practice instead moved towards the use of steel, which is stronger and cheaper, with welded construction, which is quicker and requires less labour. It should be noted, however, that wrought iron boilers corrode far slower than their steel counterparts. This makes the longevity of older wrought-iron boilers far superior to those of welded steel boilers, cast iron may be used for the heating vessel of domestic water heaters. Although such heaters are usually termed boilers in some countries, their purpose is usually to produce hot water, not steam, the brittleness of cast iron makes it impractical for high-pressure steam boilers. The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood, coal, oil, electric steam boilers use resistance- or immersion-type heating elements. Nuclear fission is used as a heat source for generating steam, either directly or, in most cases. Heat recovery steam generators use the heat rejected from other such as gas turbine. 18th century Haycock boilers generally produced and stored large volumes of very low-pressure steam and these could burn wood or most often, coal. Flued boiler with one or two large flues—an early type or forerunner of fire-tube boiler, fire-tube boiler, Here, water partially fills a boiler barrel with a small volume left above to accommodate the steam. This is the type of boiler used in nearly all steam locomotives, the heat source is inside a furnace or firebox that has to be kept permanently surrounded by the water in order to maintain the temperature of the heating surface below the boiling point. Fire-tube boilers usually have a low rate of steam production. Fire-tube boilers mostly burn solid fuels, but are adaptable to those of the liquid or gas variety. Water-tube boiler, In this type, tubes filled with water are arranged inside a furnace in a number of possible configurations and this type generally gives high steam production rates, but less storage capacity than the above

6.
Steam turbine
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A steam turbine is a device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884, in 1551, Taqi al-Din in Ottoman Egypt described a steam turbine with the practical application of rotating a spit. Steam turbines were described by the Italian Giovanni Branca and John Wilkins in England. The devices described by Taqi al-Din and Wilkins are today known as steam jacks, in 1672 an impulse steam turbine driven car was designed by Ferdinand Verbiest. A more modern version of car was produced some time in the late 18th century by an unknown German mechanic. The modern steam turbine was invented in 1884 by Sir Charles Parsons, the invention of Parsons steam turbine made cheap and plentiful electricity possible and revolutionized marine transport and naval warfare. Parsons design was a reaction type and his patent was licensed and the turbine scaled-up shortly after by an American, George Westinghouse. The Parsons turbine also turned out to be easy to scale up. Parsons had the satisfaction of seeing his invention adopted for all major world power stations, a number of other variations of turbines have been developed that work effectively with steam. The de Laval turbine accelerated the steam to full speed before running it against a turbine blade, De Lavals impulse turbine is simpler, less expensive and does not need to be pressure-proof. It can operate with any pressure of steam, but is less efficient. He taught at the École des mines de Saint-Étienne for a decade until 1897, one of the founders of the modern theory of steam and gas turbines was Aurel Stodola, a Slovak physicist and engineer and professor at the Swiss Polytechnical Institute in Zurich. His work Die Dampfturbinen und ihre Aussichten als Wärmekraftmaschinen was published in Berlin in 1903, a further book Dampf und Gas-Turbinen was published in 1922. It was used in John Brown-engined merchant ships and warships, including liners, the present-day manufacturing industry for steam turbines is dominated by Chinese power equipment makers. Other manufacturers with minor market share include Bhel, Siemens, Alstom, GE, Doosan Škoda Power, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan projects that manufacturing of steam turbines will become more consolidated by 2020 as Chinese power manufacturers win increasing business outside of China. There are several classifications for modern steam turbines, Turbine blades are of two basic types, blades and nozzles. Blades move entirely due to the impact of steam on them and this results in a steam velocity drop and essentially no pressure drop as steam moves through the blades. A turbine composed of alternating with fixed nozzles is called an impulse turbine, Curtis turbine, Rateau turbine

7.
8"/55 caliber gun
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The 8/55 caliber gun formed the main battery of United States Navy heavy cruisers and two early aircraft carriers. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun barrel had an diameter of 8 inches. These built-up guns weighed about 30 tons including a liner, tube, jacket, a down-swing Welin breech block was closed by compressed air from the gas ejector system. Loading with two bags each containing 45-pounds of smokeless powder gave a 260-pound projectile a velocity of 2800 feet per second. Range was 31,860 yd at the elevation of 41 degrees. These simplified built-up guns eliminated hoops to reduce weight to 17 tons, the breech mechanism was similar and loading two silk bags each containing 43-pounds of smokeless powder gave a 335-pound projectile a velocity of 2500 feet per second. Each gun could fire four rounds per minute. Maximum range was 30,050 yd at the elevation of 41 degrees. These guns were similar to Mark 9, with the shell weight and maximum range, with a smaller chamber. These guns were similar to Mark 12, with the shell weight and maximum range. Useful life expectancy was 715 effective full charges per liner and these self-loading guns with lined monobloc construction and vertical sliding breech blocks weighed about 20 tons. Semi-fixed ammunition with 78 pounds of smokeless powder gave a 335-pound projectile a velocity of 2500 feet per second, each gun could fire about ten rounds per minute. Useful life expectancy was 780 EFC per liner, range was 17 miles at the maximum elevation of 41 degrees. This gun was modified for the experimental Major Caliber Lightweight Gun, the eight twin turrets of Lexington and Saratoga were removed in early 1942 during refits at Pearl Harbor. The turrets were turned over to the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps, four two-turret batteries were established at Salt Lake near Aliamanu Crater, Wiliwilinui Ridge Military Reservation, Opaeula Military Reservation, and Brodie Camp Military Reservation. After the war, all of the guns and turrets were scrapped in 1948, NOTE to the above table, Turret Structures with two guns which elevated together as an assembly were known as Twin Turrets. Structures with three guns which elevated together were Triple Turrets, etc, Turrets where the guns elevated independently of one another were distinguished by different nomenclature. A turret which contained two guns that elevated independently is properly termed a Two Gun Turret not a Twin Turret, Gun turrets beginning with the San Francisco Class and there after were Three Gun Turrets

8.
5"/38 caliber gun
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The Mark 12 5/38 caliber gun was a US naval gun. The gun was installed into Single Purpose and Dual Purpose mounts used primarily by the US Navy, the 38 caliber barrel was a mid-length compromise between the previous United States standard 5/51 low-angle gun and 5/25 anti-aircraft gun. The increased barrel length provided greatly improved performance in both anti-aircraft and anti-surface roles compared to the 5/25 gun, however, except for the barrel length and the use of semi-fixed ammunition, the 5/38 gun was derived from the 5/25 gun. Both weapons had power ramming, which enabled rapid fire at high angles against aircraft, the 5/38 entered service on USS Farragut, commissioned in 1934. The base ring mount, which improved the rate of fire, entered service on USS Gridley. Even this advanced system required nearly 100 rounds of ammunition expenditure per aircraft kill, however, the planes were normally killed by shell fragments and not direct hits, barrage fire was used, with many guns firing in the air at the same time. Base ring mounts with integral hoists had a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute per barrel, however. On pedestal and other mounts lacking integral hoists,12 to 15 rounds per minute was the rate of fire, useful life expectancy was 4600 effective full charges per barrel. The 5/38 cal gun was mounted on a large number of US Navy ships in the World War II era. It was backfitted to many of the World War I-era battleships during their wartime refits and it has left active US Navy service, but it is still on mothballed ships of the United States Navy reserve fleets. It is also used by a number of nations who bought or were given US Navy surplus ships, each mount carries one or two Mk 12 5/38cal Gun Assemblies. The gun assembly shown is used in single mounts, and it is the gun in twin mounts. It is loaded from the left side, the left gun in twin mounts is the mirror image of the right gun, and it is loaded from the right side. The Mk12 gun assembly weighs 3,990 lb, the major Mk12 Gun Assembly characteristics are,158 Semi-automatic During recoil, some of the recoil energy is stored in the counter-recoil system. That stored energy is used during counter-recoil to prepare the gun for the next round, the firing pin is cocked, the breech is opened, the spent powder case is ejected, and the bore is air cleaned. Hand loaded A Projectile-Man and a Powder-Man are stationed at each gun assembly and their job is to move the round, consisting of a projectile and a powder case, from the hoists to the rammer tray, and then start the ram cycle. The hydraulically driven Rammer Spade, called the Power Spade in that picture, is at the back of the Rammer Tray, if the multiple names of the Spade is confusing, look at this footnote. Vertical sliding-wedge breech block The breech block closes the chamber behind the powder case and it also holds the firing pin assembly

9.
Bofors 40 mm gun
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The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. It was one of the most popular medium-weight anti-aircraft systems during World War II, a small number of these weapons remain in service to this day, and saw action as late as the Gulf War. In the post-war era the original design was not suitable for action against jet powered aircraft, so Bofors introduced a new model of more power. In spite of sharing almost nothing with the design other than the calibre and the distinctive conical flash hider. Although not as popular as the original L/60 model, the L/70 remains in service to this day, especially as a weapon for light armored vehicles. Bofors itself has been part of BAE Systems AB since March 2005, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 2 pounder Pom-Poms from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns in 1922. The Navy approached Bofors about the development of a capable replacement. Bofors signed a contract in late 1928, Bofors produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm semi-automatic gun developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspong. Their first test gun was a re-barreled Nordenfelt version of the Finspong gun, testing of this gun in 1929 demonstrated that a problem existed feeding the weapon in order to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to move quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve this problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired and this proved to leave heavy zinc deposits in the barrel, and had to be abandoned. This seemed to be the solution they needed, improving firing rates to a level. During this period Krupp purchased a share of Bofors. Krupp engineers started the process of updating the Bofors factories to use equipment and metallurgy. The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931, and by the middle of the month it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the mechanism were all that remained, and by the end of the year it was operating at 130 rounds per minute. Continued development was needed to turn it into a suitable for production. Since acceptance trials had been passed the year before, this known as the 40 mm akan M/32

10.
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
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The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon and this used a 20x70 RB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of weapons in Germany. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, the Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG. In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the product line. This fired a larger cartridge to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s, at the cost of increased weight. The purpose of development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930, three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, the 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds. In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft, designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning wing-mounted, these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of fire of 470 rpm. Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, for the FF series drum sizes of 45,60,75 and 100 rounds were available, but most users chose the 60-round drum. The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon

11.
Deck (ship)
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A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary or upper deck is the structure that forms the roof of the hull, strengthening it. Decks for some purposes have specific names, the main purpose of the upper or primary deck is structural, and only secondarily to provide weather-tightness and support people and equipment. The deck serves as the lid to the box girder which is the hull. It resists tension, compression, and racking forces, the decks scantling is usually the same as the topsides, or might be heavier if the deck is expected to carry heavier loads. The deck will be reinforced around deck fittings such as the capstan, cleats, on ships with more than one level, deck refers to the level itself. The actual floor surface is called the sole, the term refers to a structural member tying the ships frames or ribs together over the keel. In modern ships, the decks are usually numbered from the primary deck. So the first deck below the deck will be #2. Some merchant ships may alternatively designate decks below the deck, usually machinery spaces, by numbers. Ships may also call decks by common names, or may invent fanciful and romantic names for a deck or area of that specific ship. Equipment mounted on deck, such as the wheel, binnacle, fife rails. Eastern designs developed earlier, with efficient middle decks and minimalist fore, in vessels having more than one deck there are various naming conventions, numerically, alphabetically, etc. However, there are various common historical names and types of decks,01 level is the term used in naval services to refer to the deck above the main deck. The next higher decks are referred to as the 02 level, the 03 level, afterdeck an open deck area toward the stern-aft. Berth deck, A deck next below the gun deck, where the hammocks of the crew are slung, Boat deck, Especially on ships with sponsons, the deck area where lifeboats or the ships gig are stored. Boiler deck, The passenger deck above the vessels boilers, may also refer to the deck of a bridge. Flight deck, A deck from which aircraft take off or land, flush deck, Any continuous unbroken deck from stem to stern

12.
Gun turret
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A gun turret is a location from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility, and some cone of fire. Rotating gun turrets have the protection, the weapon, and its crew rotate, when this meaning of the word turret started being used at the beginning of the 1860s, turrets were normally cylindrical. Barbettes were an alternative to turrets, with a barbette the protection was fixed, in the 1890s, armoured hoods were added to barbettes, these rotated with the platform. By the early 20th Century, these hoods were known as turrets, modern warships have gun-mountings described as turrets, though the protection on them is limited to protection from the weather. They may be manned or remotely controlled and are most often protected to some degree, the protection provided by the turret may be against battle damage, the weather conditions, general environment in which the weapon or its crew will be operating. A small turret, or sub-turret set on top of a one, is called a cupola. The term cupola is used for a rotating turret that carries a sighting device rather than weaponry. Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th century, firepower was provided by a large number of guns, each of which could traverse only in a limited arc. Additionally casemate mounts had to be recessed into the side of a vessel to afford a wide arc of fire, designs for a rotating gun turret date back to the late 18th century. The Lady Nancy proved a success and Coles patenting his rotating turret design after the war. Coless aim was to create a ship with the greatest possible all round arc of fire, the Admiralty accepted the principle of the turret gun as a useful innovation, and incorporated it into other new designs. Coles submitted a design for a ship having ten domed turrets each housing two large guns, the design was rejected as impractical, although the Admiralty remained interested in turret ships and instructed its own designers to create better designs. Coles enlisted the support of Prince Albert, who wrote to the first Lord of the Admiralty, in January 1862, the Admiralty agreed to construct a ship, the HMS Prince Albert which had four turrets and a low freeboard, intended only for coastal defence. While Coles designed the turrets the ship was the responsibility of the chief Constructor Isaac Watts, another ship using Coles turret designs, HMS Royal Sovereign, was completed in August 1864. Its existing broadside guns were replaced with four turrets on a flat deck, early ships like the Royal Sovereign had little sea-keeping qualities being limited to coastal waters. Sir Edward James Reed, went on to design and build HMS Monarch, laid down in 1866 and completed in June 1869, it carried two turrets, although the inclusion of a forecastle and poop prevented the turret guns firing fore and aft. The gun turret was independently invented by the Swedish inventor John Ericsson in America, Ericsson designed the USS Monitor in 1861, its most prominent feature being a large cylindrical gun turret mounted amidships above the low-freeboard upper hull, also called the raft. This extended well past the sides of the lower, more traditionally shaped hull, a small armoured pilot house was fitted on the upper deck towards the bow, however, its position prevented Monitor from firing her guns straight forward

The Bofors 40 mm gun, often referred to simply as the Bofors gun, is an anti-aircraft/multi-purpose autocannon designed …

British Bofors 40 mm L/60 on a 360 degree turret mount, England.

Finnish Bofors 40 mm. This gun mounts the original reflector sights, and lacks the armor found on British examples.

British 40mm L/60 includes the British-designed Stiffkey Sight, being operated by the gun layer standing on the right. The layer operates the trapeze seen above the sights, moving them to adjust for lead. The loader stands to the layer's left, and the two trainer/aimers are sitting on either side of the gun.